This phone conversation marked the first time Williams and Johnson spoke. Williams joked with reporters that after the Bears’ games against the Lions last season, he tried to find Johnson and shake his hand, adding “I think he knew it was probably best not to don’t shake my hand after the match in those moments.”
Even on the phone, Williams could feel Johnson’s enthusiasm. His sense of urgency, his will and his desire to win became evident.
What Williams also took away from that conversation, as well as Johnson’s introductory press conference — which Williams and teammates DJ Moore, Cole Kmet and Rome Odunze traveled to Halas Hall to attend — was the desire to the head coach to create a winning culture based on relationships of trust and accountability.
“Our career here is going to be important,” Williams said. “It starts with Ben. There’s a lot of people here, I understand. But it starts with Ben and the rest of the coaches he brings. Once we understand exactly what his rules are and how everything happens, how it must be done.”
Johnson made it clear to Williams that responsibility also comes with a high level of support and constant connectivity between the coach-QB duo. Developing that integral relationship and path to being on the same page “starts with building an offense with Williams and the unit’s playmakers leading the way.
Johnson’s scheme and playbook helped create unprecedented success for the Lions’ offense — a group that led the league in average in points (30.1) and yards (402.2) per game over the past two seasons. In 2024, Detroit finished with a 15-2 record and a second straight NFC North title, was the league leader in touchdowns (68), and ranked second with 409.5 yards per game.
All of these impressive stats create obvious excitement for what will hopefully happen to the Bears, but Johnson made it clear that this offense won’t look like it did in Detroit. This message lit a fire in Williams.
“He told me that would be my attack,” Williams said. “He’s going to build around me, but also, he’s going to test me. He’s going to challenge me in the offseason and things like that on what has worked and what works in the NFL and things where he might want to- be that I’m getting better But at the end of the day, if it doesn’t suit me, if it doesn’t work with me, it won’t be there – and our staff in general.
“It brings another level of excitement because it’s us. It’s not when he was with Miami and their offense. It’s not when he was with Detroit and their offense. It’s the Chicago Bears and our offense and our personnel offense.”
Williams is more than ready for the challenge of learning a new playbook, getting acquainted with a new coach and creating a new standard in the locker room. He’s ready to spend long hours and days with Johnson this spring and summer, eager to soak up the coach’s lessons and learnings from his years of NFL experience.
As Williams looks ahead to his sophomore season, now knowing who his leader and teacher will be, he has a general idea of his goals for 2025.
“For me, selfishly and unselfishly, it’s being able to be at my best every Sunday to help this team go out there and compete at a high level, win games,” Williams told ChicagoBears.com. “Go 1-0 every week, so in the end, if you go 1-0 every week and there’s like 20 weeks of playoffs, the result will be what everyone wants.”
